The Tower Card In Tarot

The Tower card in Tarot at first glance looks like a card you don’t want in your Tarot spread. With lightening strikes and people falling out of a building, it seems as if the only meaning this card can be associated with is destruction, disaster and falling to certain death.

That seems pretty grim doesn’t it? However when you look at the bigger picture of where this card is coming from, it is about a needed change and clearing out the old way in order for something new to come through in the after math. It is also worth taking into consideration that the card that follows The Tower in Tarot is The Star card, which is all about healing and regeneration and spiritual renewal.

The Picture On The Card

When you look at the details of the card you see a crown falling away from the top of the building. To me this is a clear symbol of leadership coming to an end. It can be related back to the destructive reign of a political leader, or leader of a company or other organisation or even someone who is calling all the shots in a family where the implemented structures are now falling away. It can be something that also happens all of a sudden (relating back to the lightning strike in the picture) and something that on the surface may not have been overly obvious, but on a deeper level it is like a dam that is waiting to burst.

As with any Tarot card, it can be looked upon on a micro or macro level. The micro level relates to our personal lives and how they play out, and the macro level relates to global events that affect us all to varying degrees.

The Macro Level Meaning of The Card

I am often reminded of 9/11 when I look at this card which was an event that no-one could have seen coming when it relates to the general public. I am aware that there is much speculation as to whether it was a planned event or it was truly a terrorist attack where there is no truth to the conspiracy theories, but never the less, it was an event that most people were taken completely by surprise, as next to no-one could have fathomed that something like this could have happened.

All that aside, The Tower card in Tarot is completely symbolic of that event. It happened suddenly, it left a lot of people questioning how it could have happened, it dislodged a lot of trust in government, there were literally people falling out of tower like structures that were burning, and our perception of the world as we knew it was changed forever. Was this event inevitable on some level? Maybe, or maybe not, depending on what your world view is in relation to the global conflicts we are constantly reminded of on the news.

Donald Trump and the ‘Trump’ cards in Tarot

The other thing I have been musing about recently in relation to this card is Donald Trump. It was a complete surprise to many that he ended up as President, and he is certainly ruffling the status quo. Love him or hate him, he is certainly causing a global stir, and I feel we are in a time of huge change and upheaval and possibly on the brink of a third world war or global catastrophe that will leave us once again deeply changed. This will lead us into fully realising that the ‘normal’ way of operating is not sustainable on many levels.

I also feel it is ironic that The Tower card in Tarot is known as one of the ‘Trump’ cards in Tarot (also known as the Major Arcana), and that Donald Trump himself has a Tower named after him. I find this coincidence uncanny and symbolic of the deeper patterns that are occurring on an archetypal level. Trump himself could be a catalyst for a third world war or other catastrophic event, or could bring about a change that is so positive that no-one could have predicted because on the surface it looks as if he is well…kinda evil! It is yet to be revealed as to whether this is going to hurt or help us progress into times of greater peace and global cooperation.

The Micro Level Meaning of The Card

When The Tower relates to us on a more personal level, it can indicate that we may have had a lot of pent up emotion that has been building up inside of us, and then one day it just erupts and it comes as a complete surprise to those around us as well as ourselves that we were holding all of this within.

It can also relate to a personal event in a relationship or life situation which shocks us, and much destruction results. It can relate to anything that we were not consciously prepared for, but on a deeper level it is part of unearthing something that was going on ‘underground’ that needed to come to the light.

It does not have to be all bad news

It also does not have to relate to something that has negative associations to it. It could mean a sudden spiritual awakening which ‘rocks your world’ and changes your perception of reality in a way that means you can no longer continue to operate on the usual level that you have been operating. You are being guided to find new ways of existing and it may feel awkward and uncomfortable at first because it is new to you.

In any Tarot reading, the surrounding cards will give more meaning as to what the card relates to, as well as the questions you bring to the table in terms of the answers you are seeking. So there is never really a ‘one size fits all’ Tarot meaning when it comes to any of the cards, as context is always important.

What have been your ‘Tower Moments’ in life? How did you move through them? Feel free to comment below and let me know!